Germany’s fund industry managed €4,625 billion in assets at mid-2025, up €1,286 billion from €3,339 billion five years earlier, marking an average annual growth rate of nearly 7%.
According to data shared by BVI, the German fund association, open-ended Spezialfonds — German fund structures designed for institutional investors — accounted for €2,208 billion, with pension schemes (€784 billion) and insurers (€530 billion) the largest contributors. Open-ended retail funds held €1,702 billion, discretionary mandates held €652 billion and closed-ended funds held €63 billion.
In the first six months of 2025, open-ended retail funds received €47.8 billion in net inflows. Bond funds led sales with €22.7 billion, supported by €13.6 billion into short-maturity bond strategies and €6.9 billion into corporate bond funds.
Equity funds saw net inflows of €19.6 billion, mostly from equity ETFs (€19.3 billion). Money market funds gained €5.7 billion, while balanced funds added €2.7 billion. Property funds continued to face redemptions, with €3.7 billion in outflows, reducing their net assets from €122 billion at the start of the year to €118 billion.
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Equity funds emerged as the largest retail fund category with €825 billion in assets, followed by balanced funds at €366 billion. Bond funds held €286 billion, including €129 billion in euro-denominated bonds and €70 billion in corporate bonds.
ETFs accounted for €423 billion. “This figure is based on a new cooperation between BVI and fund companies
issuing ETFs with the central securities depository Clearstream, launched earlier this year,” shared BVI. Additional ETF assets from issuers outside the scheme and from other depositories, particularly Euroclear, mean total ETF assets in the German market are estimated to exceed €600 billion, making it the largest ETF market in Europe, according to BVI.
Closed-ended fund assets managed by BVI members have risen from €20 billion in mid-2020 to €63 billion. Private equity funds represent the largest segment, with 46% of closed-ended assets, while property funds hold 32%, down from 50% five years ago. The market, governed by the German Investment Code (Kapitalanlagegesetzbuch), is dominated by institutional investors. Spezialfonds manage €59 billion, or 94% of closed-ended fund assets, while closed-ended retail funds, worth €4 billion, mostly invest in property.
